Mechanical-draw-delivery filing-cabinet



A. T. I. BAHIA MECHANICAL DRAW DELIVERY FILING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30,1919.

7 ID- j..

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. T. l, BAHR.

MECHANICAL DRAW DELIVERY FILING CABINET.

APFLICAIIUII FILED JUNE 3o, 1919.

I Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. T. J. BAHR.

MECHANICAL DRAW DELIVERY FILING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED IUIIEso, I9I9.

m3. Famed Apr. 6, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST T. J'. IBAHR, OF DANVILLE, ILLINQIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOEDGAR S. KELLER, 0F DANVELLE, ILLINOIS.

MECHANICAL-DBAW-DELIVERY FILING-CABINET.

Application led June 30, 1919.

To all whom z'zf may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST T. J. Beim, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Danville, in the county of Vermilion and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMechanical-Draw-Delivery Filing-Cabinets, of which the following is aspecication.

My present invention relates generally to filing cabinets and moreparticularly to mechanical drawer delivery cabinets, my primary objectbeing the provision of a simple, practical, economical cabinet of thischaracter which will be convenient and time-saving in use.

A further object is the provision of an arrangement, the mechanicalparts of which are constructed and disposed so as to provide for maximumlife and usefulness and at the same time permit of ready accessibilityfor purposes of repair and the substitution of parts.

A still further object is the provision of a cabinet including` drawersmovable inwardly and outwardly along an inclined plane so as to shift,in opening, downwardly toward the user and thus expose to a glance everyportion of the drawer compartment, in connection with means to controland mechanically bring about such movement in an effective, unfailingand peculiarly convenient manner.

A still further object resides in the mechanical drawer latching andmanually actuated latch releasing means, the construction andarrangement of which lends itself readily to almost unlimited numbers,adaptation to various cabinet bodies and characters of filing devices,and promotes uniformity and standardized operating elements.

Further objects, relating for the most part to the details ofconstruction, as well, as the resulting advantages, of my invention,will appear in the course of the following description, referring to theaccompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and inwhich,

Figure 1 is a front elevation.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation with a portion of the rear wall broken away.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

serial no. 307,651.

Fig. 4; is an enlarged sectional detail showing the control andoperating devices for each drawer.

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of one of the drawer latches.

Fig. G is a vertical detail section through the drawer latch on line 6 6of Fig. 5, and,

Figs. 7 and 8 are similar views illustrating the adaptability of theoperating keys to different movements.

Referring now to these figures, wherein I have shown the preferredadaptability of my invention, l propose a filing cabinet including afront wall 10 and side walls 11, the former of which inclines forwardlyand downwardly in conformity with the similarly inclined forward edgesof the side walls as distinguished from their perpendicular rear edges.The side walls depend below the front wall and at the lower edge of thelatter is the upper rear edge of a key board 12 whose inclination isgreater even than that of the front wall and along which are a series ofdrawer operating keys 13.

The front wall 10 is apertured opposite to the forward ends of aplurality of drawer guides 14 which are mounted in superposed andjuxtaposed relation within the cabinet frame and form a part thereof.These several drawer guides incline forwardly and downwardly preferablyat or about the degree of angle shown particularly in Fig. 8 and theirupper rear ends terminate in the same vertical plane spaced from therear wall of the cabinet to permit of the interposition of a pluralityof cross strips 15 transversely inclined to parallel the drawer guidesand arranged in a vertical series with their ends connected to the sidewalls 11 so as to form a part of, and strengthen, the cabinet frame inaddition to their other functions as presently described.

Drawers 16 slide through the front wall openings and upon the drawerguides 14 and these drawers, corresponding in length to the drawerguides, have their bases rearwardly extended as seen at 17 and on theseextended portions are secured notched latch keepers 18.

In addition to the cross strips 15 previously mentioned, the cabinet isfurther reinforced by lower and intermediate cross bars 19 and 20connected at their ends to the rear edges of the side walls 11, and therear wall is formed of upper and lower normally latched sections 21 and22 respectively hinged at their lower edges to. the cross bar and therear edge of the base 23 above which the lower cross bar 19 extends. Thelatches of these rear wall sections appear at 241 and hold the sameclosed under normal conditions ready for quick release to permit ofaccess to the entire inner portion of the cabinet.

The keys 13 have pins or shanks 25 which extend rearwardly anddownwardly through openings 2G in the keyboard 12, and the upper face ofwhich has concavities in which are seated a series of elastic buttons 27sui'- rounding the upper portions of the pins or shanks as best seen inFig. The lower portions of the keyboard openings 26 are enlarged as seenin Fig. 4 so that the pins or shanks'25 may either be rocked by pressingrearwardly against the keys 13, or rotated and in any event they will benormally seated singly by virtue of the tension of the operatingconnections to be now described.

From Fig. 1, it will be noted that each key 13 has a letter or characteror similar mark corresponding to one of the drawers 16, the lowerportion of the pin or shank of each key having connected thereto one endof a i flexible connection 28 as by extending the connection or wire 28through an opening of the pin or shank and then twisting the extremityaround the wire as seen in Figs. 7 and 8 in particular so as to thusvtend to shorten the connection when the shank is rocked forwardly orrotated in either direction. This flexible connection 28 extendsrearwardly to the lower cross bar 19 and upwardly therefrom through aguide eye 29,

of which the crossbar has a longitudinal series in a plane slightly tothe rear of the series of cross strips 15. The connection then passesvertically through a guide opening 30 of the cross bar 20 and is securedat its opposite end to one end of the respective latch lever 31 throughan opening.

The latch levers 31 are arranged along the cross strips 15 upon whichthey are supported in line with the various drawers 16, and inparticular the latch pieces 18 thereof, between the parallel uprightportions of angular brackets 32 secured at their lower horizontalportions on the cross strips. Each pair of brackets 32 supports thefulcrum 33 of one of the latch levers 31, the forward end of each ofwhich has a shouldered head 34 controlled by a spring 35 which acts todraw the engaging head downwardly to position for engaging and holdingthe respective latch piece 18. Each lever 31 may also be engaged at itsopposite end by one end of a spring 36 anchoredon an adjacent crossstrip 15, if additional ten'- sion is desired or necessary, moreespecially where, with the higher tiers of drawer, the flexibleconnections 28 are longer.

It is obvious that with the drawer in innermost locked positions, it issimply necessar in order to release a desired drawer, that the key 13bearing the corresponding character be either rotated or pressedrearwardly, either movement serving to shorten the respective wire 28and thus pull downwardly upon the rear upper end of the respective latchlever 31 against the tension of its spring or springs. The instant,during rock-ing of a lever 31, its shouldered head 34 is elevated freeof the latch piece 18, the corresponding drawer 16 will be thrustforwardly and downwardly to its outer position by the drawer spring 37one end of which is attached to the lower rear portion of the drawer andthe other end of which is attached to a portion of the front wall 10.Each'drawer has rear stops 38 which engage the front wall to prevent thedrawer from falling and each drawer when open displays every portion ofits com- `partment instantly to view which is a. ma-

terial factor to be considered, especially in connection with cardsystems.

It is to be observed from the foregoing that my improvements areentirely inclosed and normally protected from sudden changes of climate,as well as breakage from the outside. Furthermore, although well housedand of simple strong construction capable, with good materials of aconsiden able length of life and effective service, my improvements areso arranged that by dropping` the sections of the rear wall, access tocach and every part for purposes of repair and substitution may bereadily had.

It is also to be observed that my invention provides a cabinet ofcompact, pleasing appearance in addition to its efficiency from amechanical standpoint.

1*. In a filing cabinet, a casing having side and front walls and a rearwall provided with hinged sections through which access may' be had tothe space within the casing, a plurality of sliding drawers movable intothe casing through the front wall, and having inner catches, a verticalseries of transverse supporting strips connected at their ends to theside walls and arranged in the space between the inner ends of thedrawers and the rear wall, latches supported by the said strips andarranged to engage the catches of thel drawers, a lower cross rail infront of the rear wall having a lengthwise series of guide eyes, a keyboard at the lower portion of the front wall, a series of drawercontrolling keys on the key board, and a series of latch controllingconnections between the said key'sand the said latches including aplurality of flexible wires, each of which eXtends continuously betweenits respective key and latch and projects through one of the guide eyesof the said cross rail and is arranged to be reached for its entirelength through the hinged sections of the rear wall, as and for thepurpose specified.

2. In a filing cabinet, a casing having side and front Walls and a rearwall provided with hinged sections through which access may be had tothe space within the casing, a plurality of drawers having slidingguided movement in the casing and through the front wall, and providedwith inner catches, a vertical series of cross strips connected at theirends to the side walls and arranged between the drawers and the rearwall, latches carried by said cross strips to engage the catches of thedrawers, a lower cross rail in front of the rear wall having alengthwise series of guides, a key board at the lower portion of thefront wall, a series of drawer controlling keys on the key board, and aseries of latch controlling connections between the keys and the saidlatches, each of said connections being in one continuous piece andextending through its respective guide of the guide rail whereby allconnections may be readily exposed through the rear wall and easilytraced for purposes 30 of repair and substitution.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

AUGUST T. J. BAHR.

